Free WP Plugin for More Traffic & Engagement ~ MyCommentAuthors

If you want your blog readers and commentators to always come back for more engagement, you need to appreciate them. One of the ways to do it is publish a monthly report, listing everyone that came to your blog and dropped a comment. I did that in this post and the reaction from readers was amazing.

It’s quite not an easy task to dig through your blog, searching for those who commented in X month, counting the number of comments they made, then creating a list. What if your blog has hundreds of comments? That’s a hell of task – almost impossible, right?

Don’t worry! MyCommentAuthors will generate the list for you with just one click. All you have to do is select the month and the year. You’ll have a well ordered list of all those who commented and the number of comments they made. Next, create a blog post and publish the list.

Why do you need to do this?

People like to be mentioned. They like to be linked to. They like to be appreciated for the smallest effort they make. So if Johnson comes to your blog and drops 1 or more comments, why not say thankyou by telling others hey Johnson was on my blog and made 5 comments?

If you do this, Johnson will feel recognized and will be back on your blog again and again. So this is going to help you to get more repeat visitors and increase engagement on your blog.

I created this plugin to help you in this task. It’s free so you don’t have to buy anything. This will help you with one sure post idea every month. You just have to generate the list and add some introductory text to it to form a complete blog post.

MyCommentAuthors is very light!

Some of us worry so much about blog speed and I can understand because I also do. I took this into consideration while developing this plugin. So I took steps to make sure it doesn’t add any weight on your blog’s loading speed;

It only runs in admin.

No Javascript involved.

No CSS files.

No extra database tables created.

No shortcodes to display list.

The plugin will help in 4 steps;

Query your database and create a list of comment authors and the number of comments made for the selected month.

Generate an html script which you can just copy and paste in your post editor’s text mode.

After you have published the post, grab the post url, come back to the list and send a friendly mail to the commentators. More about this below!

Installing the plugin!

There are 2 ways to install the plugin;

Download it from WordPress.org plugin directory. Just upload the the zip file using your plugin installation wizard and activate.

Go to your plugin installation page: Plugins -> Add New. In the search box, type mycommentauthors. You will find the plugin. Just click Install Now

Creating the list of comment Authors!

To generate the list of all commentators of a certain month, select the month, the year, and Get HTML. Click the Generate button. All you have to do now is just copy the generated html code and paste in the TEXT MODE of your post editor.

The Dofollow Limit: It’s up to you to decide whether to give a dofollow or nofollow link to your comment authors. The list generated will have links pointing to their comment URLs and with their names as anchor text. If you want to reward those that are more active in commenting, set a limit.

The default value is 20. That means everyone that has made 20 or more comments will have a dofollow link. If you want every one on the list to get a dofollow link, set the limit to any figure above the maximum number of commentators. If you want a nofollow link for everyone on the list, set it to 0

Option: There are just 2 options here (1) Get HTML – This will generate the HTML version of the list so you can just copy and paste in your blog post.

(2) – Preview – Here, you will be presented a simple list of your commentators with your admin

Page Break: If you have a long list of commentators, you may want to break the list into different pages. This option allows you to indicate the number of commentators to show before breaking the page. For instance, if you have 50 commentators, you may want to break it into 5 pages of 10 on each page.

Template: There are 3 different designs as per the current version: Gravatar Table, Gravatar Box and Simple Text List. You should chose any of these depending on your theme and design.

Mailing your comment authors!

This feature should be used with a lot of caution. You should not use it to spam your commentators. The fact that they made a comment and dropped their emails along it does not permit you to send promotional mails. If you do that, you are spamming and you know what that means.

Before mailing your list!

You must make sure you do some basic settings. As shown in the image below, you have to set your mailing limit. Most shared severs don’t allow you to send out more than a certain number of mails from one domain within an hour. Hostgator for instance sets the limit to 500.

To make sure you don’t run into trouble with your host, I provided this limiting feature to allow you adjust it according to your host’s requirements. The default value is 450. Check with your host to know your exact limit.

Also make sure you set the From address and From name. The default address is the blog’s admin address and the default name is the name of your blog.

What if you have more authors than the set limit?

The script will never send more mails than the set limit. If you have 501 comment authors with a server mailing limit (Must be same limit set in MyCommentAuthors) of 450, the script will only mail to the first 450 starting with the author that has the highest number of comment to the one with the least. Authors listed from 451 upward will not get a copy of the mail. They however are present on the list to be published.

Note that everyone leaving a comment on your blog is important – whether once or twice or many more times.

When to mail your authors!

You won’t just get up one morning and decide to send a mail to your comment authors. The first thing I recommend is generate the list and publish the report post first. Then grab the url of the post and send to the list. This will trigger a mighty flow of traffic (depending on the number of authors though) to your blog.

After generating the list, click ‘Mail this List‘ button which is located just below the HTML generated script or the HTML Table. On the next page, if you are using this function for your first time, you will have to read the instructions. Then scroll to the form where you have to type the message to be sent. I have set a proposed message which you can modify though. However, I want you to note 3 important things;

Don’t address the mail! Don’t use Hello or Hi. This will be done automatically in order to personalize the mail.

Don’t remove or modify the shortcode [NumOfCom]. This will be dynamically replaced by the number of comment each author has made as the script loops through the list and sends the mail.

Be sure to add the ulr of the report port in the mail.

NB: In the current version (1.7), I have hard-coded the subject of the mail. This is one of the steps I took to make sure the script is not misused. The coded subject format is:

You made “X” comments in “MONTH” “NAME”. Thank You!.

An example: You made 30 comments in JulyEnstine. Thank you!

It just has to be like that for now. If you are not comfortable with it that way, please don’t use it.

Blog commenting contest with MyCommentAuthors!

To get more activities on your blog through commenting, you may want to run some sort of commenting contest where the author with the highest number of comments wins a prize. My blogging friend, Adesoji Adegbulu contacted me about this and I was excited he already has a commenting contest powered by this plugin.

He will be selecting two winners this month of August 2014. $50 direct cash prize to the commentator with the highest number of comments and $20 to the second. Pretty idea isn’t it? So stop by his blog post here for more.

Help me promote this plugin!

I’ll be so excited to see you give me a hand in promoting this plugin. Blog about it, share it on social media, talk about it every where, etc

If you review it, please shoot me a mail with the url so I can stop by to share and promote.

If you have an idea how we can push this forward, please let me know.

So go grab your copy now!

Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.

As you comment, I’ll be using the very plugin to create a link of commentators for the current month. That means you’ll be on the list 😉

Hi Enstine, I agree this tool will totally inspire people to comment for a great many reasons. Congratulations on developing this tool! I appreciate you telling me about it. I will reply to your email for further discussion of your plugin. I tweeted this post for you. JaniceTwitter: MrsPaznanski

Hi Enstine, What a joy to be here again after a while. It is indeed a great joy to note that the MyCommentAuthors Plugin is live again. I just created my January list by using this wonderful plugin. I appreciate you for the pain you have taken to fix the problem we faced with it. Here is the link I created with this plugin, I am so glad that i mentioned you in it. Keep up the good work my dear friend. Best Regards ~ Philhttps://www.pvariel.com/philipscom-comment-authors-in-the-month-of-january-2018/Twitter: PVAriel

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Philip Verghese Ariel

Thanks for the shout out Enstine. I appreciate your time on my page with a feedback. Nice that you fixed the bug. I am now planning to create my pending posts. Have a wonderful and profitable time ahead. Keep informed. Best ~ PhilTwitter: PVAriel

Hi Enstine, What a joy to be here again! Hey, I am surprised to note that my comment is not showing here. Anyways glad to jot down some more words here 🙂 I am happy to note that this post has been mentioned in one of my updated posts. Here is the link. https://www.pvariel.com/june-month-special-events/ Keep up the good work my friend. Season’s Greetings and a Blessed New Year 2018 Best ~ PhilTwitter: PVAriel

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Lawrence

Enstine, This is one great Plugin one must have in a WordPress site This is another great thing am learning from you after enjoying the great deal of BroadedNet Plugin Thumb Up BrotherTwitter: news24mediasnews

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Kaustav Banerjee

This WP plugin surely is very impressive. People love to be mentioned, that’s very true. And this plugin does just that. But, I would like to question something at this point. Does this plugin in anyway help to increase the number of comments or is it just displaying the comment meter? Great post! Thanks.Twitter: kb020189

Hi Bren, Thanks for reading and making a comment As a matter of fact, your admin email is excluded from the list. However, in the next version coming up, I’ll add an option so you can just add emails to be excluded. I’m sure this will be a solution Bren

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Steven Lucas

Hi Enstine,

I’ve just implemented your plugin on my blog (the first post using it will be posted on 29th Aug 2014) and I hope it will generate as much interest as I suspect. Thank you for providing this little bonus as a free plug in. Regards,

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mvenkat K

sir I have another blogger template but in WordPress there is a comment Luv, in some other templates there is only comment no option for Luv, any how you are great writer and come with new ideas on blogging tips and other. thank you.Twitter: venketvenket73

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Chadrack

Must say this is really a very powerful tactic if you are looking to garner more comments on your blog. I did something like this some time in 2010 and the response was outstanding. From the look of things your plugin is a great way to make this really simple to implement.Twitter: IncomeMC

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Jen Jelly

I’m guessing that the comment system I’m currently using (Disqus) stores comments externally. I just started my blog so I hadn’t thought too much yet about what commenting system to use in the long run. Since this works so well with commentluv and I know people love that system I think I’m going to change. This would be an amazing way to generate more of a community feeling to my new blog. Thank you so much for creating it and sharing.

Hey Jen, I’m feeling so excited to see you on my blog and thanks for the comment Commentluv is a great plugin. That’s is surely going to add some more activities to your blog. The free version is great but for a more beautiful experience, the premium version is the winner. I have a special coupon code so let me know if you make up your mind to grab a copy

Yes, this plugin works with your local comment. If you are using disqus with external storage, it definitely won’t be of help.

Thanks once more for the engagement Jen. I’ll be stepping over to your blog 😉Twitter: enstinemuki

I should have warned you my blog is about dogs lol. But just like any blogger I have to try and keep in touch with the latest blogging advice. I frequently check your blog to look for helpful tips on ways to improve my own blog.Jen Jelly recently posted…Jogging Can Be Harmful To Puppies

Wow! Just hearing you will write a blog post about it makes me shout! what a cool lift! Thank you so much dear friend. I’m seriously waiting for it and will talk about it on this blog and elsewhere.

Truth is, as you already know, if you use the plugin monthly, there is going to be an increase in return traffic and engagement on your blog. That’s a sure thing.

I thought so much about the impact it can have on loading speed. In order to make it to have zero weight, I decided to not use any css, js, database tables or shortcode. All you need is just the html generated script that’s as light as any other blog post.

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Adrienne

Hey Enstine,

Well congratulations for creating this gem and now released it to everyone so they can enjoy this and praise their commenters as well. I think that’s a pretty good idea.

I think running a contest if they want to get more commenters is a good idea as well. I do hope they’re not just accepting any old comment because we both know those short ones really aren’t much these days.

Either way I think that has to be up to the blog owners and I think everyone will have a good time with this one.

Hey Adrienne, Thanks for putting in your voice and sharing your much expected opinion about this plugin.

As a matter of face, I didn’t know from the beginning it was going to so appreciated by many. I have also had so many suggestions so I’m working on them gradually. I have moved from version 1.0 to 1.1 and now 1.2. I think it will keep growing.

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Adesanmi Adedotun

Amazing! I could remember something of this nature as per why you decided to put the plugin together went viral last week and we all appreciated it when we saw it last week, and now it’s live for everybody to make use of and starts compensating their readers with just a click. Nice plugin bro!Twitter: adetechblog

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Vinay

Hi Enstine,

This is great! A very useful plugin and something that I was looking for. Of course, you can add in more features to make it more useful, but I’ve already installed it on Aha!NOW.

First, I’d let you know my view and feedback. I think it would be great if you can add certain features (if possible while keeping the plugin light) like a widget for the top commentator to display on the sidebar, an option to exclude specific commentators like the contributors, guest post authors, and administrators even if they are more than one (Harleena gets excluded but not me!) or even specific email addresses.

Things that can be improved from the user point of view are that the month drop down field reverts back to “Jan” after generation and it’ll be better if it retains the month name for which the search was made.

Although we had less comments on Aha!NOW because of the break we took, but still the list has about 200 commentators and it becomes too long to scroll down – so either there can be a “show more” option after say 10 or 20 commentators, have different pages displaying 50 commentators each, or have a drop down table header option that gives you the option to choose the top 5, 10, 20, or 50, all commentators in the list.

One more handy features can be an “all” option in the “month” drop down box to show the comment count for the entire year that we can use at the end of the year to show the list for the entire year and avoid the laborious task of manually adding the count of all the months.

These are just initial ideas or observations and I understand that it will not be able to incorporate all of the suggestions as these may not be the priority of all the users too.

In any case, this is a great plugin and we’ll be using and mentioning in on Aha!NOW. The great aspect is that it as you mnetions doesn’t use any javascript, CSS, or extra database table!

Hey Vinay, Good to see you here and thanks for these wonderful suggestions. I’m excited to hear it’s been installed on aha!now Some of the suggestions you made are already done in the up coming release (version 1.2) which will be by weekend. These are; retaining the selected dates and the “All” option. We’ve been thinking alike on these points don’t we?

The top commentator widget is planned for version 1.3 to be released before next weekend. Up to version 1.3, there won’t be any addition of js, css or exta database tables.

I understand the list can become so long and necessitate a page by page display feature. In this case, we can no longer do without some frontend integration with shortcode or a possible jquery script to avoid reloading the complete page while browsing through the pages.

I’ll be thinking of a possible way to handle this without moving away from the initial point of keeping it light.

I really appreciate you stopping by and making these suggestions Vinay. You’ll surely be informed as I add more features to the plugin. Hope you are having a wonderful week. My warm regards to Harleena and the rest in the familyEnstine Muki recently posted…Attention! Mi Muba wants you To Be A Money Blogger!Twitter: enstinemuki

Hey Vinay, Just an update, I found out the the Next Page tag is perfect to handle the pagination function without any extra work. If list gets to long, just add Will break and automatically add the next link. You can do that multiple times to have page 1, 2 , 3 etc

This is a very simple solution but I’ll include it in the plugin. The list will be generated automatically with the tag.Twitter: enstinemuki

Hey Don, I’m so excited and thankful for your promotion. I have seen you sharing it all over social media. It’s a huge lift.

I have been working hard on it these days, having little time to visit and interact on blogs. I just upgraded and uploaded version 1.1. It’s stable so I can go reading your blog by tomorrow. I know you have shared a lot of wonderful posts and I really miss them 😉

Will be around soon and do have a wonderful week aheadTwitter: enstinemuki

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Jackson Nwachukwu

This is indeed an awesome plugin! I just launched a top commentator contest on my blog using Enstine’s MyCommentAuthor plugin and seeing the results the plugin already generated for me makes me feel very happy.

I strongly recommend this plugin for every serious blogger or entrepreneur trying to engage his audience.

Once again, thanks for creating such an awesome plugin and making it free too!

Congratulations on developing this plugin! I can see that it will create a buzz of traffic to one’s site. And that means more traffic! When you mentioned me at month’s end blog that you did, I did see more people coming over to my blog telling me they were from yours.

I also like the idea of the email process this plugin does. I would say that this is especially great for newer bloggers to get more traction building relationships. I do work with many newbies and will suggest this to them.

As you mentioned, people love to see themselves on other blogs. This is a great way to do so and with the automation, it makes it easy!

That’s a great plugin. Just installed it. It would be awesome if you could add these 2 options in future update – “Total comments on this blog in Year XXXX” and “Total comments on this blog since beginning of the site”. This will help to find out who commented the most in a particular year as well as the top commentators since the start of the blog.Twitter: RockstarEmperor

Hi Enstine, What a brilliant idea for a plugin! I love this idea and have a few questions. First, how does it work with CommentLuv? I’m thinking it does because you use CommentLuv.

Second, does it start counting comments from when you first download the plugin or does it go back and check?

Third, I don’t want to email my commenters. Is there a way to turn that feature off?

Fourth, my idea is to do a shoutout to my top commenters for the past month at the beginning of the next month. Would it be easy to import the info into an existing article? I see the shoutout being at the end of the article as a thank you to my top commenters.

Hi Carolyn, Good to see you here and thanks for the questions. Here are the answers:

How does it work with CommentLuv? It has no relationship with commentluv. What it does is log to the comment table and count the comments for a given month. However, if you use a system that stores your comment externally like Google Plus commenting system, it will not be able to count the comments

Does it start counting comments from when you first download the plugin or does it go back and check? You can select any date from 1 year past. That means if you install now 2014, you can count comments in 2014

I don’t want to email my commenters. Is there a way to turn that feature off? Well, you simply don’t use the mailing function. If needed, in version 1.1, I may add a power button to the mailing function

Would it be easy to import the info into an existing article? Yes! You generate the list in html format so you can copy and paste any where – in an existing or new article.

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Jackson Nwachukwu

Hi Enstine,

First I want to thank you for this wonderful plugin which you created. I got your mail few days back commending me for leaving 3 comments on your blog in the month of January and I was wondering how you did that. Reading your post and learning about your comment author plugin answered that question.

I really see this as a creative act, one which will soon be embraced by many bloggers especially those of us who like comments. I will be giving it a shot soon on my blog and will equally write about it on my blog. I am sure some of my readers will like to hear about it.

Once again, thanks for creating and sharing for FREE this wonderful blog comment promotion tool!

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Jackson Nwachukwu

Hello Enstine,

Yea, I really have not been online for sometime now. Duty call bro! I really appreciate the fact that you tried connecting with me on Kingged.com, thanks for looking out for me!

My next post hopefully should be on your “MyCommentAuthor” plugin because it needs to be escalated online for bloggers to use for better audience engagement. Like you requested, I will alert you once the post goes live on my blog.

Once again, thanks for your concern and creating this wonderful plugin.

Hi Enstine, this seems like a pretty cool plugin. Is there a way to display it differently in a post than the post you showed up with #’s and names only? I like that it can be emailed too, that makes it very versatile. I may be trying it out! Thanks for making and sharing with us Enstine.Lisa recently posted…LinkedIn Today – 6 New Things You Should KnowTwitter: Lisapatb

Hi Enstine, The one you have there app shareears in straight text. Maybe something like the share button’s or related posts – that have a little visual with them? Maybe the bloggers photo or logo near the comments? Just a thought …Lisa recently posted…LinkedIn Today – 6 New Things You Should KnowTwitter: Lisapatb

Enstine Muki is full time ‘doing his things’ online and around. A a damn fine person, friend of the community, Certified Cryptocurerncy Expert (by Blockchain Council), Serial Entrepreneur, Author of Affiliate Marketing For Bloggers. He came into blogging in 2012 after creating a Twitter based blog promotion tool.